COMMON COOT. 225 
Young. — Fulica aethiops. Sparrman. Gmel. Sit/st. Nat. I. 704. 
Variety. — Fulica leucoryx. Sparrman, Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 
703. 
Length about sixteen inches : its beak is white, 
slightly tinged with rose-colour : irides crimson : the 
head and neck deep black : the upper parts of the 
plumage of a slaty black ; and all the under parts of 
a greyish-blue : the frontal plate is pure white, and 
very large : the legs are ash-Colour, tinged with 
green ; with a ring of yellow or reddish-green above 
the knees. The female has the frontal plate smaller : 
in other particulars she resembles the male. The 
young, before moulting, have the frontal plate very 
small ; it, and also the beak and legs, are olive- 
grey ; and the under parts of its plumage are greyish- 
white : after the first autumnal moult, the frontal 
plate increases in size, and the under parts of the 
plumage become tinged with reddish. 
It is sometimes, though rarely, found of a pure 
white, or white with a slight tinge of the usual 
colours : also with white wings, and the rest of the 
plumage as usual. 
The Coot is a very common bird in this country, 
particularly in the Southampton river, and in the Isle 
of Sheppey : in the last place it is much esteemed as 
an article of food : it is extremely abundant in Hol- 
land and on the lakes of the interior of France : it is 
also found in Gennany and Switzerland on the bor- 
ders of the rivers, but less numerous. It is likewise 
said to inhabit other parts of Europe, even as high 
as Sweden, Norway, and Greenland ; also various parts 
of Asia and North America. 
